- 21 hours ago
For educational purposes
Born of a fear of communism and a vision to keep the peace with massive nuclear deterrence, the American Strategic Air Command possessed the largest, fastest piston engine bombers of the period.
While designers and engineers struggled with structural challenges, pilots and crews struggled with the increasing complexity of flying these gigantic machines.
Featured Aircraft:
- Boeing B-29 Superfortress
- Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Born of a fear of communism and a vision to keep the peace with massive nuclear deterrence, the American Strategic Air Command possessed the largest, fastest piston engine bombers of the period.
While designers and engineers struggled with structural challenges, pilots and crews struggled with the increasing complexity of flying these gigantic machines.
Featured Aircraft:
- Boeing B-29 Superfortress
- Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
Category
📚
LearningTranscript
00:01Hi, I'm Neil Armstrong. Join me for an adventure through time.
00:55I'm Neil Armstrong.
00:57World War II was brought to a devastating end when atomic bombs were dropped on Hiroshima
01:03and Nagasaki by the B-29 Superfortress. It was a dramatic example of using large aircraft
01:11for very long-range bombing. Setting the stage for nuclear deterrence, the B-29 spanned the
01:19gap between an older generation of piston-powered bombers and the strategic jets of today.
01:27The B-29 was designed during World War II for the U.S. Army Air Corps as a hemisphere defense
01:34weapon. Because of its improved range and speed over existing bombers, the B-29 gave America
01:41the striking power it needed. B-29s could fly from captured Pacific islands to Japan's heartland
01:48to bomb its industrial might. More than 4,200 were built, and huge numbers were deployed
01:55during the Pacific portion of that war. These were the first of the big heavy bombers. B-29
02:02showed the value of strategic air power, the capability of destroying an enemy's industries,
02:08and his capacity to make war. When it became clear, however, Japan would surrender only after
02:15the last man died, President Harry Truman gave the order. On August 6, 1945, a B-29, the Enola
02:25Gay, dropped the first atomic bomb on Hiroshima, Japan. Two days later, a second bomb was dropped
02:33on Nagasaki. At least 100,000 people died.
02:43The horror and human suffering of the atomic bomb so impressed U.S. decision-makers, a policy
02:51to prevent nuclear holocaust was born. It was called nuclear deterrence. Ironically, at the
02:58heart of this concept was the use of the long-range bomber.
03:12The B-29 Squadron of the Confederate Air Force operates a restored superfortress from their
03:18museum facility in Midland, Texas. Colonel Tom Cloyd is the B-29 Squadron leader.
03:26It's so thrilling and exciting to me to fly something like this, which is really a real
03:33part of our American history. And when you look at what it did in World War II, it was a
03:42magnificent
03:43weapon of war, there is no doubt about it. And to be able to fly the last one that is
03:48still
03:48flying in the world today, for a pilot, what bigger thrill can you have?
03:5429 Bravo is in position and ready.
03:5829 Bravo, Runaway 13, cleared for takeoff.
04:02Clear for takeoff, here we go.
04:13G-90, cleared for takeoff.
04:18An air rolling in, that's 100.
04:26Yeah.
04:27120, cleared for takeoff.
04:29Air off.
04:31G-90.�
04:32Kear going up. G
04:33-90. That's
04:45The B-29, though conceived before World War II, was first produced and delivered to the
04:51U.S. military in the autumn of 1943, and first saw action in an attack on Bangkok in June
04:591944.
05:01The Superfortress had a crew complement of from 10 to 14, including pilot, co-pilot, navigator,
05:08bombardier, and gunners.
05:10There were three pressurized compartments, one on the flight deck connected by a tunnel
05:15to another in the middle of the aircraft.
05:18There was a separate pressurized compartment for the tail gunner.
05:21Being back there by himself for the entire flight made the tail gunner's job alone.
05:27The B-29 was well armed, including five turret machine guns which were remote controlled.
05:34Colonel Carter McGregor was a B-29 pilot during World War II.
05:39Just through circumstances, I was in a group that was awarded the first B-29s for combat
05:45duty.
05:46And our group was the first one to leave the United States to participate in the war.
05:52And I was in the group that flew on the first mission of the war on the 5th of June
05:581944, the
06:00same day as the Normandy invasion.
06:03I flew the last one, we had moved to Tinian from India.
06:07And the atomic bomb had already been dropped on Hiroshima.
06:12And everybody thinks the war ended that day.
06:14And it did not.
06:15We flew missions after the attack on Hiroshima.
06:17And on the 14th of August 1945, we flew the last mission.
06:22They briefed us that if we heard the code word Utah, that would mean the war was over.
06:28And we'd drop our bombs in the water and turn around and come home.
06:31We heard Utah after we'd left the target about four hours.
06:37After the war, the Allies' emerging enemy, the former Soviet Union, used a B-29 as a model
06:44for the Tupolev Tu-4 Bull, which inspired a series of powerful Soviet heavy bombers.
06:51Fear of communism, and the American vision to keep the peace with massive nuclear deterrence,
06:57created the Strategic Air Command, or SAC for short.
07:02It possessed the largest, fastest piston-engine bombers of the period, making SAC the most powerful
07:09long-range strategic bombardment force in the world.
07:13This huge wheel is from a B-36 bomber, built in the late 1940s.
07:19The B-36 used both pistons and jet engines.
07:23It was the jet engine that made it possible to make the big bombers faster.
07:29While designers and engineers struggled with structural challenges,
07:34pilots and crews struggled with the increasing complexity of flying.
07:39Some said landing one of these gigantic machines was like trying to land the Empire State Building.
07:49The gigantic Convair B-36 became the aircraft upon which the early U.S. Strategic Air Command
07:56was structured.
07:58SAC's commander, General Curtis LeMay, was a brilliant leader with absolute control,
08:03who saw communism as a major threat to the free world.
08:07It was General LeMay who commanded those B-29s bombing Japan during World War II.
08:12It was LeMay, in 1948, who commanded European forces that would mount the famous Berlin airlift.
08:20That was considered by some to be the beginning of the Cold War.
08:24It was also General LeMay who later commanded the most powerful bomber strike force on Earth,
08:30the Strategic Air Command.
08:33Our command is the ever-ready striking arm of the free world,
08:36and was trained constantly to achieve bombing accuracy
08:40and to maintain the greatest possible number of airplanes ready for instant action at all times.
08:45In the case of medium bombers,
08:48to maintain sufficient mobility to move from base to base
08:51and support ourselves for a minimum of 30 days.
08:55Everything in this command is dedicated to placing bombs accurately
08:58on enemy industrial areas and other targets in the shortest possible time.
09:02SAC is a global striking force.
09:04To us, the only difference between peace and war is where we place our bombs.
09:10SAC's bomber, the huge B-36, was given the same nickname
09:13as the Colt .45 revolver of the Old West, Peacemaker.
09:18In case England could not serve as a base,
09:20the B-36 had been designed for long-range raids on Germany
09:25from the American continent during World War II.
09:28It was not, however, available until after the war.
09:31The B-36 was the first bomber with range enough to hit European targets from U.S. bases.
09:38The mammoth flying machine had a 230-foot wingspan.
09:42It was powered by six 3,000-horsepower pusher engines,
09:46meaning the props were on the back of the wings and pushed the giant along.
09:51Later, as a B-36-D, four additional turbojet engines gave the behemoth
09:57a speed over the target of 410 miles per hour.
10:05The B-36 was a true long-range bomber that could fly up to 24 hours.
10:11The long missions were fatiguing for its 16-man crew.
10:14It was difficult to fly, so every crewman had to participate.
10:20It had an excellent galley and sleeping spaces.
10:23It would be the last bomber with those amenities.
10:27Crew members could make their way between the front and rear pressurized cabins
10:31on a trolley above the huge bomb bays and through an 80-foot tunnel.
10:36They could even maneuver through the massive wings.
10:38The Peacemaker could do what B-29s could not.
10:42Because of the B-36's large wing, it could outmaneuver jet fighters,
10:47which would stall out trying to turn with it.
10:50Its massive greenhouse cockpit was a boardroom full of levers, knobs, and switches,
10:56which rivaled the largest steamship of the day.
10:59SAC also operated a higher-flying, faster version of the B-29, called the B-50.
11:05The B-50's spot in bomber history was secured
11:08when it made the first non-stop flight around the world aided by aerial refueling.
11:17These aircraft that used in-flight refueling
11:19made strategic bombing a global reality.
11:23And SAC constantly trained its crews.
11:26The idea was that 24 hours a day,
11:28it would be able to respond immediately to any first strike from an enemy anywhere.
11:38The B-52 was introduced in the 1950s as a large subsonic strategic bomber.
11:45It was expected that it would soon be replaced by new supersonic bombers,
11:50but building such aircraft proved to be complex and expensive,
11:54and the B-52 remained an integral part of the United States bomber force.
12:02Bomber design technology moved at a rapid pace in the 50s,
12:06with the addition of more powerful and reliable jet engines.
12:10The British believed in the same strategic bombardment concept as the U.S.
12:15Both America and Britain were developing swept-wing technology,
12:19which would allow aircraft to approach and exceed the speed of sound, Mach 1.
12:24The new buzzword for bombers was supersonic.
12:28Britain engineered the V-bomber series, Vickers Valiant,
12:32and the further developed crescent wing, Hanley Page Victor.
12:36The U.S.'s first swept-wing all-jet bomber was the subsonic Boeing B-47 Stratojet.
12:43In 1951, it was one of the fastest operational aircraft in the world.
12:49Its design had been top secret.
12:52It could outfly fighters.
12:54B-47s were beautifully streamlined,
12:57and there was a rakish-looking canopy for its three crew members.
13:00A pilot sitting in the cockpit felt powerful.
13:04As an aircraft, the B-47 was a looker,
13:07but it was difficult to handle at high altitude.
13:10In all its variations, SAC had more than 2,000 B-47 Stratojets built.
13:15The next logical step in swept-wing design was to make it bigger.
13:20So along came the Boeing B-52 Stratofortress.
13:24It first entered service in 1955.
13:27They called it BUFF, which is short for Big Ugly Fella.
13:31One wonders why.
13:33Though a subsonic B-52 lumbers along on the taxiway and runway,
13:38it has a hauntingly beautiful shape in flight.
13:42For enemy fighters, the B-52 presented new difficulties.
13:46With its eight jet injuries,
13:48it flew one-third higher and at a crew speed double the old B-29.
13:54Scrambling enemy fighters had to be quick off the ground to catch one.
13:57Playing catch-up with a B-52 miles high, doing 630 miles per hour,
14:04can be a losing proposition.
14:05To maintain surprise and give a B-52 crew the edge over enemy radar,
14:11a tactic was developed called oil burn.
14:14The B-52s would train flying to their targets at less than 500 feet above the ground.
14:20This could be at night and through mountainous terrain.
14:23Considering the sheer size of one of these monsters,
14:26piloting and crewing one requires the utmost in skill and endurance.
14:31Approaching the target, the pilot would bring his bomber to a much higher altitude,
14:35drop his bombs,
14:36and then sneak back below enemy radar in search of other targets.
14:40In the 1950s, most of the training took place in the American countryside.
14:45Farmers and ranchers across the U.S. cringed
14:48and they heard the roar of eight jet engines coming right over the tops of their heads,
14:52sometimes in the middle of the night.
14:54The Soviet Union needed bombers to carry its nuclear bombs,
14:58and as the tensions between East and West increased through the 50s,
15:03the Soviets developed some formidable long-range jet bombers of their own.
15:07They had American code names like Bear, Bison, and Bachelorette.
15:13By far, the most potent weapon in the U.S. nuclear delivery arsenal
15:17was the supersonic Delta Wind B-58 Hustler.
15:22It could outrace most of the opposition.
15:24It used massive amounts of fuel.
15:26It was designed to fly at twice the speed of sound for 1,000 nautical miles.
15:31But the Hustler was expensive and tricky to fly.
15:35The quest for the supersonic Big Bomber proved elusive.
15:39The B-58 Hustler was phased out.
15:41In contrast, the older subsonic B-52 still flies today
15:46and could well serve the U.S. into the next century.
15:51Captain Ted Taylor pilots a B-52 for today's U.S. 9th Bomb Group
15:56at Carswell Air Force Base in Fort Worth, Texas.
15:59You actually start your mental attitude the day before,
16:02when you go through your entire mission planning day,
16:04which is approximately eight hours.
16:06Even though the technology has improved,
16:08we still take a long time to plan the mission
16:10and make sure we coordinate with each other.
16:12It's very important.
16:13It's not like a single-person aircraft
16:15where you can do everything by yourself.
16:17Now you have to think for five other people or four other people.
16:20So you have to get mentally prepared the day before
16:22and understand what each individual is going to be doing at any time.
16:31Following a pre-flight briefing,
16:32Neil Armstrong suited up and went along on a routine seven-hour mission.
16:44Major William Clarity told us more about the B-52.
16:49Here we are in the business part of the B-52, the Bomb Bay.
16:52As you can see, a fairly large Bomb Bay.
16:54We can carry quite a few internal weapons.
16:58We also have racks on the wings where you can carry external weapons as well.
17:03Okay, out here you can see the long wingspan that the B-52 has.
17:07It's approximately 185 feet wing tip to wing tip.
17:12The wings of the B-52 are a wet wing, i.e. there are fuel cells inside the wings.
17:19Therefore, you can see that while the B-52 is sitting on the ground,
17:23the wings actually bend down under the load of the fuel.
17:29Because of that, we have the tip gear out on the wing tip
17:32that actually protects the wing tip from dragging,
17:35especially when the airplane is being turned during taxi operations.
17:39Right now, you see this tip gear is pretty close to the ground.
17:44The wings can flex up to approximately 18 feet.
17:49So a lot of times, after a long mission,
17:52after a lot of the fuel has been burned out of the wing tanks,
17:54that tip gear will be so far off the ground
17:56you won't be able to reach up and touch the top.
17:59The B-52 is really interesting when you're flying low level,
18:02especially in turbulence, the wings will flex.
18:05It makes the B-52 look very similar to a bird of prey.
18:08Flying low level as the wings are moving out there like a large bird.
18:12I've flown the airplane for 12 years.
18:14I feel very comfortable with it.
18:15People that fly with us think that we have a lot of time
18:18just to drone and not do anything.
18:20But when they actually go along for a ride,
18:23they find out the entire mission,
18:25whether it's a 4-hour mission or a 10-hour mission
18:27or a 12-hour mission, we're busy all the time.
18:31Okay, no timing now.
18:32Everything's there.
18:33All right.
18:34You're right.
18:34You're right.
18:34You're right.
18:35You're right.
18:37You're right.
18:38You're right.
18:38You're right.
18:40Coming up on unsticking 10 knots.
18:43On stick.
18:44Breaks your butt.
18:45Gears down.
18:46Stays down.
18:47Yeah, checks to cheer up.
18:48Gears down.
18:50Departure laser 3-8 airborne passing 700 or 3-000.
18:56There's a 3-8 radar contact.
19:11There's a 3-8 radar contact.
19:26Learning to fly a B-52 involves many hours spent in a simulator on the ground.
19:33We can simulate things that could be happening to us in flight that we can't simulate in
19:40the airplane.
19:41Of course, you know, we don't want to purposely create an engine fire in flight or shut down
19:46engines in flight or obviously flying in peacetime we're not going to have an enemy fighter flying
19:52up our tail trying to shoot us down, so the simulator is mainly for us working together
19:58as a crew and simulating things that would be impossible to simulate, you know, during
20:02an actual flight.
20:07So, I'll maintain your present mode.
20:09I'll be low climb up back to me on this purpose.
20:15It's a 3817 miles north of Carswell, I'll turn right here to 140.
20:18Maintain 268-1st Towers Town, localizer, clear to our S-0817 approach.
20:22Looper 38140, clear to the approach and we'll be going to tower.
20:31Trading off with the pilots, Neil Armstrong took the controls for much of the mission.
21:02What do I like about the airplane?
21:04Everything.
21:04Everything.
21:05It's my dream.
21:06I would like to have flown other airplanes after pilot training, but I selected the B-52
21:12and I've never regretted it for a moment.
21:14We've had a lot of people that have grandfathers that actually flew the airplane.
21:17It's been around the inventory for so long and it's done such a great job.
21:22It will still be flying into the 21st century.
21:39This giant was primitive by today's standards, but it could do the job it was designed to do.
21:45Join me next time on First Flights.
22:14We'll see you next time on First Flights.
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